First Solar: Predictions of its Demise Overblown

[Jason]

What a difference a year makes! Last year, thin-film solar panel manufacturer First Solar was teetering. Bloomberg News carried the banner "First Solar Latest Casualty in Renewable Energy Shakeout." Bloomberg painted a dire picture of First Solar's prospects as First Solar fired 30 percent of its workforce and shuttered its German factory. As recently as August of this year, Lawrence Meyers of InvestorPlace predicted confidently that First Solar "will go bankrupt sooner or later." That may be like predicting that we will all die sometime, but Meyers' main beef with First Solar is that the solar technology doesn't work, shading looms as a huge problem, and dust or dirt on panels significantly reduces panel efficiency. The jury is out on Meyers' prediction, but Forbes is unabashedly upbeat about the stock, and yes, even the technology that Meyers trashed in his article. Forbes earlier this year suggested that there were several drivers to fuel the growth of First Solar's business.

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[russ]

I wouldn't touch that one with a 10' pole! Wonder how many shares the Forbes writer owns?

If First Solar makes it we will all be a little surprised but happy for the workers and company.